Carlsen's power tumbles 2023/10/19

One of the unique social phenomena is that tribal or pack feeling manifests loyalty and solidarity to the leader even when he makes mistakes. Socrates expressed it in Gorgias: An ignorant man can persuade more than a wise man, when it comes to ignorant people. When Magnus Carlsen suffered two defeats from Hans Moke Niemann accused him of cheating without giving or presenting testimony of his claim. The tribe accepted the despicable argument and believed, and some still believe, that Niemann is a cheater. This week Carlsen suffered a defeat against the young Kazakh Alisher Suleyménov, 23, and his argument was that he lost concentration because his opponent distracted him with an analog watch and he complained that the organizers of the Qatar Open that takes place in Doha Don't take the fight against cheating seriously. In June, Carlsen, at the prestigious Norway Chess in Stavanger, finished with a score of +0,=8,-1 in classical games. The new wave of young talent is more aggressive and bold than that of a decade ago, frequently playing above 95% accuracy. Yesterday, in the seventh round Carlsen, with the white pieces, suffered another resounding defeat in Qatar, against the Indian talent Murali Karthikeyan, (2,611), 24 years old. They swept him off the board in 45 moves of a Ruy López, Anderssen variant. More than the subjective considerations of the former monarch about his defeats, what is perhaps appreciated in the sporting field is that Carlsen's motivation is no longer the same as it was years ago. His mind is likely on other professional pursuits. He is the target, due to his high Elo, of the young players who certainly show intense preparation with sharp lines in the three phases of the game.

With the victory Karthikeyan, under 12 and under 16 world champion, monarch of the LIII National Premier Championship of India, second in the Gibraltar Open in 2019 where he produced a combinatorial gem by sacrificing a queen in the ninth move and defeating Alireza Firouzja, He joins in fifth place in the core of six leaders with 5 ½ points, (with Narayanan, Sindarov, Erigaisi, Paravyan and Yakubboev) while Carlsen drops to 28th position with 4 ½ real points, a performance of 2,610 points that makes him lose 16 Elo points, and now he is first in the world ranking but not with 2,839 but with 2,823, which in theory puts him in a vulnerable position against the ten best in the world and before the audacity and acuity of the twenty-somethings with +2,600.

White: Magnus Carlsen, Norway, 2,839.

Black: Murali Karthikeyan, India, 2,611.

Opening Ruy López, V. Anderssen, C77.

R-7, Qatar Open, in Doha, 10-18-2023.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.Nd5 d6 (7...Nxe4 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.Qg4 0–0 11.Qxe4=) 8.c3 Be6 9.d4 exd4 10.cxd4 Bxd5 11.exd5 Bb4+ 12.Kf1 Although with pawns doubled and the king in a relatively awkward position, White has achieved a micro advantage by retaining the bishop pair. How are they going to solve the Th1 confinement? 12...Ne7 Identical position to the one played by Mateusz Bartel, 1–0, Luca Moroni, in the US Open National Championship, 2020. 13.Qd3 Qd7 14.h4 h6 Perhaps better 14. ... h5 with the intention of delaying the development of Rh1 with 15.h5, as happened in the game. 15.h5 Nexd5 Either way, blacks have a majority. And if all the pieces disappeared now they would win with c4. =+. 16.Rh4 0–0–0 17.a3 Ba5 18.a4 Bb6=+ 19.Nd2 The8 20.axb5 axb5 21.Ne4 Rb7 Better c6. 22.Qf3 Carlsen threatens the tactical blow: 23. Nxf6+- which could be followed by Qxd5+ or NxRe8. 22...Qc6= The clocks read 30'13" vs 3'47". 23.Bxh6? A miscalculation. Perhaps White was waiting, instead of 23...Rxe4! that Black would play: 23...gxh6 24.Nxf6 Nxf6 25.Qxf6 d5 26.Qf3 Qe6=. 24.Rxe4 gxh6 Black now has a positional and material advantage and a majority on the queenside. Their f7 and h6 pawns are weak. Black's plans target the weak d4 square. 25.Tee1 Rb8 26.Re2 Qb7–+ 27.Bxd5 Nxd5 If 27...Qxd5?? 28.Qxf6±. 28.Qxf7 c6 29.Qxb7+ Kxb7 30.Rd1 Kc7 31.Re6 Rf8 32.Rd2 Rf6 33.Re4 Rd7–+ 34.g3? Preferable Re4-e2. 34...Rf5 35.g4 Rf7 36.Rd3 Nc7 37.Tee3 Ne6 38.d5 cxd5 39.Rf3 Rg7 40.Rxd5 Rxg4 41.Rf6 Bd4 42.Rxh6 Rf4! Black not only attacks f2 but, as in a study of domination, threatens Rc6 -+ 43.Rxb5 (43.b3 Kc6 44.Rxe6 Rxf2+ 45.Ke1 Kxd5) 43...Rxf2+ 44.Ke1 Nc5 45.Kd1 Be3 With the threat of Nd3 followed by Rd2++. 0–1.

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